Hello everyone,I'm happy to let everyone know about the events at Brickworld Chicago that have to do with Castle!

As many of you have probably seen on the Brickworld website, there will not be a reserved table area that's specifically for an official collaborative Castle layout. Last year the collaborative layout only had my own stuff plus one other MOC. So while there are many people who bring castle-themed creations, we've seen a waning interest in people wanting to put those creations together in a combined layout. Does that mean that you can't team up with other Castle builders to get your table space together for your medieval MOCs? Nope! As always, Full Registrant attendees can combine their MOCs with those of other attendees however they choose. (Please note that you'll have to already have your table space reserved for this, since May 1 was the last day to reserve space.)

We have seen collaborative displays become less popular, but there is something that we have seen grow in popularity in the years that we've been having Brickworld: Parts drafts

I would like to announce the first planned Castle event for Brickworld Chicago 2014:Parts draft of set #79012 Mirkwood Elf Army

Mirkwood Elf Army offers a wide variety of pieces in several colors that are useful to most Castle builders. All of the minifigs in the set are also quite popular. This set retails for about $30 USD. Anyone who wants to participate in the set draft will need to bring an unopened set. It doesn't matter if you still have one from last Christmas, or you buy one at the LEGO store right before the draft. As long as you have an unopened 79012 at the appointed place when we begin, you can join.

We will have a unified set of rules for all of the different parts drafts at BW Chicago. Hopefully this will provide a sense of organization and methodology to participants, especially those who participate in multiple parts drafts. I will update with more specific rules soon.

David GregoryBrickworld Castle Coordinator

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

Most of the parts drafts have been added to the Brickworld Chicago schedule. The time for the Mirkwood Elf Army set draft is 10:30 AM - 12 PM on Friday.

For those of you who have never participated in a parts draft, let me explain the basic concept:A bunch of people bring a copy of the same set.The group opens all of the sets and sorts all of the pieces into lots of the same part.People take turns at choosing lots to take.Once all the lots are gone, you're done.

The idea is that each person can get a large number of certain pieces that are in the set.

Here are the basic rules for the set drafts that will be happening at Brickworld:

Before the draft• Everyone who wants to participates brings one unopened copy of the set.• Everyone opens their set and begins sorting. The coordinator should bring or arrange for some kind of open-top containers to use.• Certain parts should be kept together. Examples of parts to keep together are: Window frames & glass, left & right wedges, wheels & tires, turntable tops & bases. Minifigs can be assembled or kept as pieces, depending on the minifig. For example, IndyLUG recently parted out a Lone Ranger set, and we left the minifig parts separate. However, other minifigs, such as a female fig who has a printed torso that goes with a printed 2X2X3 slope/dress piece, should probably stay together. The draft coordinator should decide and announce this ahead of time.• When sorting the parts, there may be certain pieces that are far more valuable than others. A lot like that can be split in half. However, keep this lot-splitting to a minimum, as it can quickly get out of hand.• Make sure that everyone has some kind of container to dump their parts into. Usually the empty set boxes will work for this.

The Draft• Do a draw-a-number-out-of-a-hat style thing to decide the order in which everyone will go.• Participants are not allowed to enter multiple copies into the draft in order to get extra turns.• The participants each pick 1 lot of parts in the order of the number they picked until each person has chosen 1 lot. Then each person goes in opposite order. This constitutes one "round," and is known as the Up-Down method. For example, if there were 4 people doing the draft, the order would go 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 and repeat. The idea behind this method is that whoever drew the highest number out of the hat would sort of get a bum deal if they went last every round for the whole draft. This method evens the playing field a bit.• Everyone keeps taking turns until all parts are gone... and then you're done!

FAQQ: What if someone wanted to build their set first, and they brought the built set, disassembled it and parted it out with all the other sets?A: Opened sets are not allowed in the draft.

Q: Should I get a copy of the Mirkwood Elf Army set with me to bring to Brickworld?A: That would be a good idea. We cannot guarantee that the local LEGO stores will have any draft set in stock, so getting one before the event is a good plan.

Q: I really want to keep the minifigures from my set. Can I just keep them and then get fewer turns in the draft?A: No. If you're not willing to put a whole set into a draft, then set drafts aren't for you.

Q: What do we do with the instructions from the sets?A: We won't make the instructions into a lot for the draft. Usually everyone just keeps their set of instructions from their set; that or they throw them away.

Q: What do we do with special pieces like stickers or string?A: Sort them into a lot just like any other piece.

Q: What do I do if the number of lots in the set is not enough to let everyone get the same number of turns?A: It's pretty rare to have a number of lots in a set draft that lets the #1 person go last (meaning that everyone got the same number of turns.) By the end of the draft, the lots that are last to be picked are typically small common parts that have low demand anyway. It is highly probable that not everyone will get the same number of turns.

Q: After the draft is done, are people allowed to trade parts?A: Of course! Once the draft is done, people are free to do whatever they want with the pieces they chose, whether it's trade them, sell them or build with them. 'MERICA!

Now you may be wondering how we're going to sort the minifigs from this set. We will be leaving the minifig parts separate, as they come in the box. We won't pull apart any of them (Arms stay on torsos, hands stay in arms, etc.) but the orc and elf parts will each be their own lot in this draft. The set does not have any left-&-right pairs or hinge type pieces, so that aspect will be simple. We will, however, be keeping the warg jaw piece with the main warg body. Other than the wargs, everything will be sorted out just as it is from the box.

David Gregory

Last edited by Crazylegoman on Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

The set is $25 ($5 off of the $30 MSRP,) and it also has a BOGO 40% sale.$25 + $25 - $10(BOGOsale) = $40 for 2 setsThis is as good of a deal as I think we're going to see on this set. Please note, however, that there is a limit of one set that will get the BOGO40% discount. If you add 4 of the set to your cart, you only get one $10 discount taken off. The good news is that even if you just order 2 of them, it will qualify for free shipping. If you order now, you should get them in time for Brickworld.

The reasoning behind what Amazon.com leaves on sale and what they take off of sale is a mystery to be, but I wanted to let anyone reading know that the only sets that I see still on the BOGO40% sale are the Mirkwood Elf Army set and the Castle Forest Ambush set.

Get 'em while they're hot!

Thanks,David

June 10 Update:The Mirkwood Elf Army set and Castle Forest Ambush set are still on sale on Amazon.com, but the BOGO40% part of the sale is over.

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

I want to let attendees know about one last thing to add to the schedule for Castle fans: the annual Castle Fan Dinner. Last year we did not have one due to the new venue. I wasn't acquainted with the local eateries around the Renaissance yet, so we opted to skip it in 2013. However, I have done enough scouting that we will have a place picked out for this year.

There's a lot going on in the BW schedule the entire event, so it's hard to pick a day and time, but we've decided to have it at 6:00 on Thursday night. This time slot coincides with the Dirty Buildster, Hovercraft set draft and BOTS competition. (It also coincides with the MF speed build prelims, but that starts at 5:00.) If you had planned to participate in one of those other three events... skip it and come to the Castle Fan Dinner instead. The next main item on the Thursday schedule is the Opening Ceremony at 8:00, and we plan to be done well before that. If you don't stay too long, you could even make it back in time to participate in the MF exchange (7 - 8.)

Please note that the Castle Fan Dinner is not listed on the official event schedule. We have a pretty good idea about the location, but I don't want to post it, since we're not 100% sure yet. To get location info, either find me at the event, or check with the Registration Desk.

I hope to see some of you there!

David Gregory

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

Ugh, to bad I didn't check this thread before BrickWorld started...otherwise I would have joined that Castle Fan Dinner! Ah well, thanks for setting up the Parts Draft, that was so much fun, and I got lots of nice pieces! Looking forward to next year!